Blaze destroys former fire station on Walnut Street

So far, no injuries reported.

So far, no injuries reported.

SOUTH BEND Â? With a camera in his hands, South Bend Fire Chief Howard Buchanon snapped pictures of a former South Bend fire station as it erupted in smoke and flames.

Â?We might want to look back at these one day,Â? he said.

The building at 1240 W. Thomas St., which used to house Fire Station No. 4 until it closed in the mid-1970s, was destroyed by a fire that started about 3:45 p.m. Monday.

The first firefighters on scene sprinted into the building to see if anyone was inside, but a bullhorn alerted them to exit, Buchanon said. The thick smoke was too much.

Â?We got the firefighters out of there so we could go on the defensive,Â? Buchanon said at the scene. Â?The way the smoke was going, it was too dangerous.

Â?I havenÂ?t seen smoke like this in years.Â?

It is unclear if anyone was inside the two-story brick building at the time. As of Monday night, no injuries were reported.

Although fire officials are not sure how the blaze started, several neighbors said they heard a lightning strike nearby about 2 p.m. Buchanon could not confirm those reports.

Â?I heard a loud bang,Â? said 60-year-old George Walker, who lives a few houses down on Thomas Street. Â?You could tell it was close.Â?

Authorities at the scene were unsure who owns the former fire station at the corner of Thomas and Walnut streets, but they believe it was being used for storage.

Buchanon said a Fire Department ambulance responded to a nearby medical call at a home about 3:30 p.m., when someone saw smoke coming from one of the buildingÂ?s doors. Upon closer look, they noticed a car inside was on fire.

Â?It moved quickly after that,Â? Buchanon said. Â?Once it started moving up the wall, it was gone.Â?

Three ladder trucks were on scene, and firefighters spent much time saving a house next door, which was being blasted by the smoke. It is unclear how much damage the house sustained. A cat was rescued from the former fire station when it peered through a window.

Bob Michalak, meanwhile, owns the nearby business, Masterbilt Inc. He said he believed it was only a matter of time until the building caught fire.

He watched in March as a vacant building at 331 S. Walnut St., just south of his business, burned to the ground. A homeless man, 50-year-old Richard Eakins, died in that blaze.

Â?It seems like thereÂ?s been a lot of fires to vacant buildings around here recently,Â? he said. Â?The neighborhood has changed.Â?